Hampshire Bowl Final

A great win if close!

A great end to the season with Trojans winning the Hampshire Bowl in front of a very large crowd to revenge last year’s defeat by Eastleigh.

For the first twenty minutes Eastleigh were well on top in all phases but the Trojans defence held firm and then Jake Bailey gathered the ball on the half-way line and made a scintillating run down the wing, then cutting in to just evade an Eastleigh chaser and score on the post with Toogi Long converting. Eastleigh returned to put on the pressure and were rewarded with a penalty and a try to give them a one point lead. As half time approached, Trojans 2nd row Alex Williams made a strong run up the middle of the pitch and some more interplay saw Joby Kochanowski slip through to score with a good long range conversion from Chris Boyd.

So, although Eastleigh had the better territory and possession in the first half, Trojans ended with a two try to one and a six point advantage. The second half was very different with Trojans beginning to dominate but Eastleigh getting the only try to get within one point, the try resulting from an audacious dummy and strong run. The last ten minutes were very tense with Eastleigh missing a kickable penalty and Trojans also missing a penalty but the final whistle went and the silverware secured.